千qiān里lǐ送sòng鵝é毛máo——lǐ——禮qīng輕qíng情yì意zhòng重

What does 千里送鵝毛——禮輕情意重 (qiān lǐ sòng é máo——lǐ qīng qíng yì zhòng) mean?

千里送鵝毛——禮輕情意重 (qiān lǐ sòng é máo——lǐ qīng qíng yì zhòng) is a two-part riddle-saying (xiēhòuyǔ 歇後語). Word for word it reads "Sending a goose feather a thousand miles-the gift is light but the sentiment is heavy." In use it means: The value of a gift lies not in its material worth but in the sincerity and effort behind it. A humble gift carried far means more than an expensive one given casually. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Goat.

Literally: "Sending a goose feather a thousand miles-the gift is light but the sentiment is heavy.."

The reading

Distance is a measure of devotion when the gift itself weighs almost nothing. The feather would blow away in any wind, yet someone carried it over mountains. This is what intention looks like when it is stripped of show. Grand gestures can hide hollow motives, while a small token held carefully tells the whole truth. What matters is not what arrives but what it cost the sender to bring it.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typexiēhòuyǔ 歇後語
• FocusLooks back
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie羊 Year of the Goat

Source Tang dynasty origin story, widely cited folk xiehouyu

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Friendship, Trust & Speech, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.